Paid vacation and sick leave: The government's draft amendment has been tabled
- ptruche
- Mar 22, 2024
- 2 min read
According to Article L. 3141-5 of the Labor Code, the periods during which the execution of the employment contract is suspended due to an accident at work or an occupational disease and the continuous duration of one year are taken into account for the acquisition of the right to paid leave.
However, periods during which the contract is suspended due to a non-work-related accident or illness do not give rise to a right to vacation.
These provisions are not in line with European Union law, as interpreted in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), which requires that employees receive four weeks of paid leave during a working year, even if they have experienced absences due to illness this year. Several recent decisions of the Court of Cassation illustrate the non-compliance of French law with European law.
The amendment thus ensures the compliance of French labor law with European Union law by providing that employees whose contract is suspended due to a break in work will continue to be entitled to vacation, regardless of the origin of this judgment (professional or personal). Employees who are on sick leave due to an accident or non-work-related illness may therefore receive paid leave equal to two working days per month or four weeks of paid leave per year, guaranteed by Article 7 of the Directive. 2003/88/EC. The methods for calculating holiday pay will also be adjusted accordingly.
This article also provides for a right for employees to postpone vacation that they have not been able to take due to illness or accident.
According to the case law of the ECJ, this deferral period is 15 months and begins with the information that he receives from his employer about the vacation available to him after resuming his duties. Deviating from this, the 15-month deferral period begins at the end of the blocking period for employees who have been on sick leave for more than a year and whose employment contract remains suspended.
The amendment introduces an obligation for the employer to inform the employee of the number of days accrued and the period over which the employee must use these days, within ten days of returning to work after a period of sick leave.
The amendment provides that these rules for the acquisition and deferral of vacation entitlements apply since December 1, 2009. It introduces a period of two years from the publication of the law, binding on the employee who wishes to bring an action to enforce the right to leave that should have been acquired during sick leave since December 1, 2009, from the employment contract.
With regard to employment contracts terminated upon the entry into force of the Act, the amendment does not alter the common law rules providing for a three-year limitation period for actions relating to the payment of wages.
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